


As Long As We Do It Together

by Juh_Nunes



Series: Trust in Fate [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babysitting, Established Relationship, M/M, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-02-01 06:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21414904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juh_Nunes/pseuds/Juh_Nunes
Summary: It has been a year since their wedding when a favor for Catarina brings up a conversation about their future.
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Raphael Santiago, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Trust in Fate [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1508540
Comments: 40
Kudos: 648





	As Long As We Do It Together

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of a series, and although it can easily be read on its own, it may have parts that would be better understood after reading the first fic in the series.

A whole year had gone by since Alec and Magnus got married, and their relationship was better than ever, but from time to time Alec still had trouble believing what his life had turned into.

This was one of those times.

“It’ll be for a week, maybe two,” Magnus told him over dinner.

Alec had just gotten home from the Institute to find Catarina, Madzie, and a huge suitcase in the middle of their living room. But he only had a vague idea of what was going on.

Catarina had adopted Madzie eight months ago, she had decided to cut back on her working hours to take care of the highly traumatized little Warlock, and they both seemed to be adjusting well. But Catarina’s calling was healing, and she had trouble seeing people hurt, when she knew she could help them.

It was an outbreak of a rare type of influenza in some countries in South America that broke her resolve to wait a few years before going back to work full time.

She had tried to fight it, from what he heard of her conversations with Magnus, Alec knew Catarina had been trying to convince herself that other people could take care of it, that there were other competent nurses and doctors all around the world. But when people started dying, people she could have saved, the decision was made.

“I don’t mind,” Alec said honestly, looking at their guest-room with a soft smile.

Magnus smiled back at him before saying; “Catarina has always been like that. Even when most of the Downworlders went into hiding because of the Circle, she refused to stop working,” he sighed. “She worked in a clinic for HIV patients in West Village back then, and she was always so exhausted and depleted when she left the clinic, that she would’ve been an easy target for them if they crossed paths. I picked her up everyday for months, even had to help her keep her glamour up more than once.”

Alec nodded, smiling lovingly at his husband. He had always loved how dedicated Magnus was to his friends.

“It’ll be fun,” Alec declared.

It wasn’t. At least not at first.

While Catarina worked her way through small villages and isolated communities, the places she knew authorities wouldn’t reach easily, inoculating as many people as she could, Alec and Magnus took care of a six year old Warlock with enough power to through Alec across the room during a tantrum.

They had been close to Madzie ever since they met her. She considered them family just as much as she considered Catarina, and Alec loved it, loved that Madzie saw him as an uncle.

But in all honesty, if anyone had told him two years ago that this would be his life, he would have laughed in their faces.

Of course Madzie was a great child. She liked to play quietly with her toys, watch cartoons in the morning, and listen to Magnus’ stories before bed, especially when he used magic to create sparkly visual effects. She had stayed with them before, had spent the night during a weekend, or spent the afternoon, never more than a day though.

When the second night came, and Catarina didn’t come back to pick her up, things started to get bumpy. She was grumpy, throwing tantrums, crying, and refusing to eat. They explained that Catarina would be back soon, but she didn’t want to listen.

By Monday, Magnus was about to call Catarina and tell her to come back, when Alec decided to take her to the Institute with him. Madzie and his little brother, Max, were good friends, Alec hoped that playing with a friend would improve her mood. Or at least make her tired enough for her to sleep without problem by the end of the day.

Everyone looked at him weirdly when he walked into the command center with a little Warlock clinging to his hand. Madzie blushed and hid her face behind his leg, when she noticed it, but quickly smiled, when she saw Max in the training room, learning hand to hand combat from Jace.

“Can I play with them?” Madzie asked quietly, pointing to Max and Jace with hopeful eyes.

“Of course,” Alec smiled in relief, guiding her across the command center, to the training room.

Jace and Max raised their heads to look at them at the same time, as they climbed the steps to the training room.

“Madzie!” Max greeted excitedly.

“Can you keep an eye on her too?” Alec asked Jace, when Madzie let go of his hand and ran to Max.

“Can I teach her some moves?” Jace asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alec knew Catarina wasn’t too keen on teaching such young children how to fight, but Max spent most of his time learning fighting techniques or memorizing runes nowadays, and Madzie looked interested. After two days of crying and refusing food, Alec would take any interest she showed.

“As long as it’s more play than actual fighting,” Alec shrugged. He was sure Catarina wouldn’t mind too much under the circumstances.

It worked. Between playing with Max, learning archery from Alec, and training defense techniques with either Jace or Izzy, Madzie started to settle down. And more important, she started to have fun, making Alec decide to take her with him to the Institute everyday.

Even with Magnus’ guarantees that everything was alright, and against his advice, Catarina showed up to check on Madzie a couple of days later. She was obviously exhausted, she couldn’t even keep her glamour up, and creating the portal to come to New York had taxed her even more, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to see Madzie, and make sure she understood Catarina was not gone.

It was an understandable concern. Madzie had a general understanding of what had happened to Iris Rouse, but she obviously had some abandonment issues. Seeing Catarina back, as she had promised, appeased Madzie even more.

“And Uncle Jace taught me how to jump and roll to get away from trouble,” Madzie told Catarina excitedly after dinner.

Catarina chuckled lightly, braiding Madzie’s hair while the girl told her everything that had happened since they’d last seen each other.

Once Madzie was tucked in bed for the night, Alec got to see the full extension of Catarina’s exhaustion. Her light blue skin had a greyish hue, and she had dark purple marks under her eyes. It was obvious that even almost depleted, she had been using the little magic she had left to keep a light glamour up, so Madzie wouldn’t worry.

“It’s okay, Alec,” Catarina murmured tiredly, as Alec helped her lie down on the couch after drinking the restorative potion Magnus brewed for her.

Alec observed her for a moment, then nodded. He hated seeing her like that, almost as much as he hated it when Magnus used too much magic, but they were both guaranteeing that Catarina was alright, and he trusted their judgement.

“I took her to the Institute to play with Max, and she saw him training, she wanted to try it, so I let her,” he explained, sitting on the armchair. “I hope it’s okay with you?”

“As long as she is having fun,” Catarina said with a soft smile.

“That she is,” Magnus said, sat on the couch with Catarina’s head on his lap, running his fingers through her hair lightly. “I never thought someone would find running drills so fun, but here we are.”

“I always liked running drills when I was her age,” Alec pointed out half-offended, making Catarina and Magnus laugh.

“Of course you did, Sayang, of course you did,” Magnus chuckled, looking at Alec with loving eyes. “But tell us, Cat, how are things going over there?”

As he listened to Catarina, Alec wished he could do more to help. Her passion for helping people was contagious.

“You already work day and night to protect Mundanes, Alexander,” Magnus said, tucking himself under Alec’s arm later, when they got ready to sleep. “Besides, we are helping by taking care of Madzie so Catarina can focus on healing everyone who needs it.”

* * *

It was surprising how easy it was to integrate a child into their lives once she got used to staying with them. Taking Madzie to the Institute in the morning, teaching her and Max the principles of archery, having lunch with them, and then taking her back home in the end of the day; it all felt right for Alec.

Even the little bursts of accidental magic, that scared the other Shadowhunters, were somewhat normal for him. It was not too different from fixing his siblings’ mistakes and calming them down, back when they were kids.

Because of all that, even though he tried, he couldn’t stop some pesky thoughts about the future from popping on his mind whenever he saw how soft Magnus was when taking care of Madzie.

“Can I have some sprinkles, please?” Madzie asked, looking up at them.

They had just bought her an ice cream cone from a street vendor, and were walking back home.

Whenever it was possible, Madzie always asked for more sweets. According to Magnus, it was normal for young Warlocks learning how to control their powers to crave sugar. Trying to control the magic took more energy than letting it flow naturally.

Knowing that, Catarina had given them a limit on the amount of sugar Madzie was allowed to eat per day, but Alec had the suspicion that Magnus had been sneaking Madzie some candy behind his back since the first day she stayed with them.

Alec saw Magnus already moving his hands to conjure the sprinkles, and placed his hand on Magnus’ arm to stop him. “Oh, they don’t have those here, Madzie.”

Magnus gave him a slightly offended look an raised an eyebrow.

“I thought we were teaching her restraint,” Alec said, looking at Magnus pointedly.

“I know, I know,” Magnus sighed, looking down at Madzie with tenderness. “But that face…”

Alec looked at Madzie, and snorted. She wasn’t even pouting or begging, she was just looking at Magnus with calm expectation. From what he knew of her personality, she wouldn’t even mind not having the sprinkles if they didn’t give in. But Magnus was completely enraptured by her, and it was useless trying to convince him that saying no was usually the right thing to do in these cases.

Magnus looked around carefully, before crouching in front of her. “Alright, sweet pea,” he said as he moved his hands and covered the ice cream cone with sprinkles.

Madzie smiled at him, and Magnus winked at her as she started to lick her ice cream happily. Alec rolled his eyes at them, and chuckled as Magnus stood up, catching Madzie’s hand for them to cross the street.

“You know,” he said, before he could stop his thoughts from coming out. “You’ll have to learn how to say no when we have children.”

He snapped his mouth shut as soon as the words came out, but it was too late, Magnus had halted in the middle of the sidewalk, making some passersby grunt and glare at him.

Alec swallowed dry, he didn’t know what he would’ve expected if this conversation had been planned, but the look of shock and confusion in Magnus’ face was definitely not it. He took a deep breath and tried to move on as if he hadn’t just said something so big.

“What? You don’t think so?”

“I never really considered having children,” Magnus said quietly, looking at Madzie for a second, before resuming their walk home. “I obviously can’t have biological children, and my life was always too chaotic to adopt a youngling…” He hesitated for a second, frowning. “In a way the Downworlders I take under my wing are my children, my family. Some of them remain close, others are scattered around the world, but I care for them all.”

Alec nodded slowly, he didn’t know what to make of that. He was not sure if it meant Magnus had no intention of having children with Alec or if it was as simple as he said, something he hadn’t considered before. From what he knew of his husband, Magnus would need a little time to organize his thoughts around it, so for now, Alec decided it was for the best to not insist on it.

“Raphael?” He asked, focusing on the second part of what Magnus had just said.

Magnus looked up with a grateful smile. “I met him right after he turned,” he said with a distant look in his eyes. “He was having— hm— trouble— adjusting to his new reality. So I took him in, helped him deal with the blood-lust, and some other issues, and he lived with me for a couple of years, before he decided to try to live with his own kind.”

“Did you help him rise in the ranks?” Alec asked, sincerely interested.

“Oh, no, that was all Raphael, he was always terribly smart and a natural leader,” Magnus said with some pride in his voice. “He didn’t need my help to take over the Dumort coven.”

“So, you see him as your son?” Alec asked softly, and Magnus nodded fondly.

Alec had always known that Raphael was family to Magnus, but now some of their past interactions made a lot more sense. He remembered the way Raphael always protested when Magnus wouldn’t charge him for something, and how sometimes he rolled his eyes at Magnus exactly how Izzy did to Maryse.

He was still thinking about it when they went to bed that night. He was happy that Magnus had someone like Raphael in his life, someone he saw as a son and was immortal, just like him. Alec was just not sure what it meant for the future of their family.

* * *

It took a lot of convincing, but that weekend, Maryse allowed Max to go with them to a theme park on Alec’s day off.

Max and Madzie were delighted, but Max in particular had never gone somewhere just to have fun before. It was somewhat bittersweet for Alec to watch Max and Madzie having fun, knowing that this was what a healthy childhood should be like.

“I never had this,” Alec told Magnus by the end of the day. They had just walked through a portal into their living room and tucked the two exhausted kids in bed. “We were only allowed to play if our parents thought it was going to be useful for training,” he murmured. “The only toys we had were practice weapons.”

“It’s a harsh way to grow up,” Magnus said, looking at Alec from the corner of his eyes.

“At least Max will have a chance to grow up knowing that duty and fight are not the only things worth in life,” Alec sighed, looking at his sleeping brother through the open door for a moment, before Magnus closed the door carefully, and they got back to the living room.

Alec sat on the couch heavily, and watched as Magnus turned to his drink cart and started to mix something for them. He was lost in memories from his own childhood. Memories of Izzy wanting a doll and getting a plastic sword instead, or the only time he remembered going to a park, only for their father to turn it into an obstacle course and time them as they ran the circuit. He used to think it was normal, after all, it was how all the other Shadowhunters had grown up too, but now he knew there could be more balance to it.

Max was already training, but he still had time to play and be a child. He had toys that were not weapons, comic books, playdates with Madzie, a lot of things other Shadowhunters never had. He would grow up to be strong and prepared for their duty, without losing his innocence too soon.

Magnus gave him a martini and sat beside him, snuggling closer until Alec wrapped an arm around his back.

“I didn’t have much opportunity to be a child either,” he murmured, staring at his drink intensely. “The Silent Brothers were not all that entertaining.”

Alec hummed in agreement. If growing up surrounded by duty and constant training had been harsh, he couldn’t imagine how much worse it must have been to grow up surrounded by silence.

“At least I had hundreds of years to be young and have fun,” Magnus smiled at Alec fondly. “And now I can treat you to all the best things the world has to offer.”

They cuddled on the couch for a while, both tired after the full day running around with two young kids. Alec was sleepy and comfortable, in a way he only ever was with his husband in his arms, when Magnus said quietly: “What you said the other day…”

“Hm?”

“You said I’d have to learn how to say no when we have children,” he said softly. “Is that something you think about often? Is it something you want?”

Alec had a weird feeling in his stomach. A mixture of excitement and fear. He had always wanted to have kids, he had spent so many years helping his parents take care of his siblings, and he had always enjoyed teaching them and watching them grow into themselves. He was not sure how he would feel if that wasn’t something Magnus wanted for their future.

“For us to have children?” Alec asked, doing his best to keep his voice even, feeling more awake, but keeping his eyes firmly shut.

“Yeah.”

“It’s not something I think about all the time,” Alec said carefully. “But I would like to be a dad someday, if that’s something you want, of course.”

“I do,” Magnus whispered, resting his head on Alec’s shoulder, and making Alec exhale in relief. “But how?”

“Adoption?” Alec shrugged. He didn’t really care about the how or the when. “I don’t know, whatever way the opportunity presents, I guess.”

“Do you think the Clave would allow it? For us to adopt a Shadowhunter?”

“I would like to see them trying to stop us,” Alec snorted. “But we don’t have to adopt a Shadowhunter,” he added, opening his eyes to look at Magnus with honesty. “We could adopt a Warlock, or a Seelie, or a Werewolf, a Mundane even. As long as we do it together, I would be happy.”

“You mean that,” Magnus said pulling away a little to stare into Alec’s eyes intensely.

“Of course I mean it,” Alec said softly, pulling Magnus into a hug. “I want a family with you one day.”

Magnus nodded, snuggling into Alec’s embrace.

* * *

Alec was still thinking about his possible future children the next day at the Institute, when he was practicing kendo with Jace, but he was making an effort to keep his mind in the present as much as he could.

“How was it with Tessa yesterday?” Alec asked slightly breathlessly, amid swings of his kendo stick.

“Good,” Jace replied, concentrating on his moves. “She says the Herondales have a special way of doing things, and that it usually involves a lot of recklessness and not too much planning.”

“Oh,” Alec chuckled. “The Jace way is a family trait, then?”

Jace huffed and rolled his eyes, falting on his defense for a moment, just enough for Alec to breach it and tap his leg.

“Distraction tactics, is it?” Jace smirked as they got back into starting position. “You were a bit emotional yesterday, care to share?” He asked wiggling his eyebrows.

Alec halted, holding his stick in a defensive position and staring into Jace’s eyes for a moment, trying to find a way to explain it.

“We were talking about having children,” he stated seriously, making Jace widen his eyes and drop his stick.

“What?” Jace asked with clear shock. “Isn’t it too soon for that?”

“Maybe too soon to have children,” Alec shrugged. “But I think it’s normal to talk about it.”

Jace stared at him for a couple of moments, and Alec felt a rush of emotions coming from him, before he shook his head and smiled softly. “Look at you having a normal marriage.”

Alec rolled his eyes and gestured for Jace to pick up his stick. “My marriage was always normal, it was my wedding that was a bit unconventional.”

“A bit unconventional,” Jace repeated in a mocking tone, getting back into fighting stance.

“Don’t be a dick,” Alec smirked, tapping his stick to Jace’s and going back to training.

It took two more weeks for Catarina to finish her self-imposed mission. In the meantime, Magnus spoiled Madzie as much as Alec allowed him to.

Once Catarina came back, Alec missed having Madzie around. He had gotten used to having her at the loft and at the Institute. Max missed her too, he had been enjoying training more than usual, having someone to share it with.

“Madzie wants to keep training,” Magnus told him soon after he got home, a week after Catarina’s return. “Cat says it’s all she talked about the whole week.”

Alec smiled to himself. It was good to know that Madzie had enjoyed her time at the Institute so much that she wanted to do it more often.

If he were to be honest, he had been a bit apprehensive the first time he took her there. Relations between Shadowhunters and Downworlders were better than ever, but he knew there were still people holding on to old prejudices. It had been good for him to confirm that his people were not like that, at least not anymore.

“We can work something out,” he said, sitting with Magnus to have dinner. “Maybe she could come to work with me once or twice a week?”

“I think it could work.”

* * *

No more than a week later, Alec was alone at home, Magnus had gone to a meeting of the High Warlock Council of America and wouldn’t be home for a while. Alec had grown to enjoy the times he got to be home alone. 

Growing up at the Institute he had never been truly alone until he came to live with Magnus. It was good to be able to do what he wanted, the way he wanted, without having to worry about anyone else. Except Chairman Meow, who always looked at him judgingly whenever Alec did something he thought Magnus wouldn’t approve, like walking inside the apartment with his work shoes.

So he couldn’t stop himself from grunting, when the doorbell rang.

Alec opened the door to find Raphael standing there, narrowing his eyes to the door.

“Magnus is not home,” Raphael stated without hesitation, before Alec could greet him. “I can come back later,” he said, looking uncomfortable.

“No, no,” Alec stopped him, before he could turn around to leave. “Please, come in, I don’t think Magnus will take too long to come back.”

Raphael hesitated for a moment, then nodded and stepped inside for Alec to close the door. Weirdly enough, in the year since he got married to Magnus, Alec had never been alone with Raphael, now he was beginning to think this might have been on purpose on the Vampire’s part.

“Would you like a drink? Is there anything I can get you?” Alec asked, biting the inside of his mouth nervously. He knew Magnus kept a good amount of blood under a stasis spell in his workroom, but he had no idea how he was supposed to prepare it for drinking.

Raphael snorted softly, probably realising the same thing, and shook his head. “I’m not thirsty.”

They sat across from each other in an awkward silence for a few moments. Alec didn’t know why it was so weird to be alone with Raphael when they had been around each other so many times over the year. He took a deep breath and decided he couldn’t have this kind of non-relationship with someone who was basically part of his family.

“Is there anything urgent you wanted to talk to Magnus about?” He asked carefully, not wanting Raphael to think he wanted him to leave.

“Our wards need reinforcement,” Raphael stated. “Those stupid teenagers hear that the place is hunted and keep daring each other to go inside.”

“Oh,” Alec frowned. “Are they getting in?”

“Sometimes,” Raphael huffed with exasperation. “It’s a whole ordeal when it happens, I have to order everyone to hide, and keep the fledgelings as far away from the Mundanes as possible. It’s all annoying and more than a little ridiculous.”

“We had a similar problem in the Institute some years ago,” Alec said thoughtfully. It was truly inconvenient to have people trying to force the doors open when they were trying to leave under glamour.

“Yeah,” Raphael sighed. “And to make things even better some of the older members of the coven can’t stop themselves from telling the fledgelings that back in the day, Camille allowed them to feed on anyone who came inside, and how much of a better leader Camille was.” He grunted.

“That’s ridiculous,” Alec stated firmly. “Didn’t Camille almost kill the whole coven by getting them addicted to blood laced with cocaine?”

Raphael nodded and rolled his eyes. “Immortals can have a weirdly selective memory.”

Alec chuckled, shaking his head lightly. “I would’ve thought that Magnus used his strongest wards against Mundanes in the Dumort,” he commented after a short pause.

“He would have,” Raphael said pointedly. “But he was not the one who put on our most recent set of wards. Even the blindest Mundanes are seeing far too much inside the hotel.”

“Oh,” Alec said with a puzzled look on his face.

“And it’s Magnus’ fault too,” Raphael said with clear exasperation. “If he only took his payment like a reasonable person, I wouldn’t be having any of these problems.”

“He doesn’t like to charge the people he cares for,” Alec said, looking at Raphael pointedly.

“He cares too much for too many people,” Raphael replied seriously. “And most of those undeserving bastards take advantage of it every chance they get, I don’t.”

Alec observed Raphael’s serious expression for a moment. He knew Raphael was right. He had seen it far too often in the past year. Someone Magnus knew would show up at their home, or call Magnus, and Magnus would do something for them, without charging. He would always say that he got more than enough money from his Mundane clients and from his jobs for the Institute, but still, some people seemed to just expect him not to charge them, ever.

“Magnus may be old and powerful, but he can also be terribly gullible,” Raphael said, staring into Alec’s eyes meaningfully. “He needs someone to make sure no one takes advantage of his kindness.”

Alec nodded his agreement and his understanding. It was something he already did when it came to the Institute and his family, but from now on, he would make sure to question Magnus’ willingness to do things for free whenever he noticed it.

“Don’t ever tell him I said anything about it,” Raphael said evenly after a few seconds, narrowing his eyes to Alec menacingly.

Alec wouldn’t. And he didn’t even need Raphael’s veiled threat to keep him from doing it.

After that, things got easier between the two of them. It was like they had developed some kind of understanding that they didn’t have before.

Raphael relaxed a little, he went into Magnus’ workroom and prepared a bloody mary for himself, before coming back to the living room, telling Alec about the time Ragnor thought Raphael and Magnus were sleeping together.

It wasn’t much later, when Magnus got home and Raphael talked to him about the wards. As expected, Magnus refused to charge him for the job, but Alec interrupted him without hesitation and told Raphael that he would be taking the regular fee for wards and nothing less. Raphael gave him a respectful nod that almost seemed content, before leaving.

“What was that about?” Magnus asked, frowning, as the door closed behind Raphael.

Alec stopped in front of Magnus, and caught his face between his hands. “Raphael doesn’t like favors, you were putting him and all his Vampires in danger by refusing payment,” he said seriously. “The last Warlock he hired did a poor job from what he was telling me, and all that because you refused to take his money.”

It wasn’t entirely fair to make Magnus feel guilty about it, but it was a start. Alec knew his husband very well by now, Magnus wouldn’t want to put the people he cared for in danger. As for the others, Alec would think of ways to make them pay when the time came.

“Raphael was a great big brother for his Mundane siblings,” Magnus commented some time later, when they were cuddling on the couch, watching a movie. “Much like you, actually.”

Alec hummed, running his fingers through Magnus’ hair distractedly. He could see it. The way Raphael cared for Magnus and for all the Vampires under his command was obvious for anyone who was able to look past his stoicism.

“I think he’s going to be a great big brother for our future kids,” Magnus said, turning a little to look at Alec’s face with a small smile.

“Kids?” Alec chuckled softly. “A few weeks ago you hadn’t even considered having one child, now we are having multiple kids?”

“Being an only child can be boring, and both you and Raphael seem to enjoy having siblings,” Magnus shrugged, and Alec pulled him into a kiss.

He was happy, more than happy, his life was better than he had ever thought it could be. 

Alec couldn’t wait to see what their future would bring.

_ Well, he could wait a little, _he thought, as Magnus’ hands found their way inside his shirt.

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this one! I hope you liked it! Please let me know in the comments!


End file.
